I have been away from this blog for a while, spending much of my time rock climbing, surfing, hiking, cycling and generally enjoying the great outdoors down here in beautiful Cornwall.
One thing my recent sporting activity has brought home to me is the importance of sport-specific training. If you are a generalist and a fan […]

I suspect all of us have emotional routines attached to our training sessions that play a big part in the training process. I often feel nervous before a workout, but at the same time I know this is a good thing. If I don’t feel nervous, a little voice in the back of my head […]

I came across this interesting tool on the Crossfit Seattle website: a programme of athletic skill levels. It covers four levels from well-rounded beginner through intermediate, advanced and finally elite. The programme lists, by type of strength or conditioning, an appropriate benchmark for each of the four levels
What makes this ranking different from the rankings […]

You know what I mean, those things that make your family and friends roll their eyes, the things that cause other people to shake their heads and almost pity your obsession! What lengths do you go to in order to make sure you get your training session in, or you have access to the right […]

Ten ways to be the toughest girl or guy in town:
1. Train outdoors in all weathers. Rain, wind, snow, hail. Train when other people just stay in bed.
2. Add a ‘finisher’ to your workouts. Train your socks off, until you are lying on the floor, literally unable to do anything more. […]

I admit I am sometimes guilty of ‘ego lifting’, i.e. lifting more than I can manage with perfect form just to be lifting heavier. You see it in every gym in the land but it’s a bad thing to do in the long run. After all, how cool is it to pop a disc in […]

Mine do! I was thinking about this today as I was on my way to the gym to make another attempt on Ross Training’s 100 burpee challenge (that’s burpees with press-ups, of course). I know that it’s going to hurt, I know that it’s going to make me feel nauseous and I know that it’s […]

It can be rather intimidating to start using the free weights room, especially if you are the skinny guy in a room full of gorillas or the only female in a room of iron-toting men.
But there really is nothing to fear once you get used to it. So I’ve put together some tips to help […]